Concrete railroad-tie.



L. NQ EUELL L J. E. WHEELER. CNCRETBVBAILROAD TIE.

. APPLIATION FILED MAY 2, 1911. 1,005,150. Patented 0pt. 10, 1911.

a SHEETS-SHEET 1.

L. 4N. BUELL & J. E. WHEELER.

CONCRETE RAILROAD TIE. APPLIGATION FI-LED MAY 2, 1.911.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Patentd 001;. 10, 1'911.

@ttm/neg L. N. BUELL L J. E. WHEELER.

CONCRETE' RAILROAD TIB.

APPLXGATION FILBB MAY 2, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEVI N. BUELL .AND JAMES E. WHEELER, OF CULIiMAN, ALABAMA.

CONCRETE RAILROAD-TIE.

To ra/,Z '107mm it may concern:

Bc it known that we, Liivi N. BUELL and Jamas E. 'Wiiinmein citizens of the United iin l )rovc1ncnts in railway ties and more 'especially to reinforced concrete ties, and

the object of our invention is to provide a tic of the above type in which allowance is made for the rigidity of concrete ties in comparison to those of wood.

A further object of our invention is to provide a concrete tie in which provision is made for slight independent motion of the rails, thus relieving much of the strain otherwise placed upon the ties when a car passes around a curve. v

A furtliercbject of our invention is to form a concrete tie composed of two parts, each 'identical with the other and in which the upper and lower faces are identical,

whereby the resultant tie, or either part thereof reversible.

A further object of our invention is to l'provide a novel foi-in of reinforcement for the tie which, while reinforcing the tie also provides means for securing a series of ties .o each ot-her, thus forming a continuous road bed.

A further object of our invention is to provide spacci' blocks by means of which 4o the distance between the ties may be increased if desired without forming any break in the road bed. And a still further `object of our invention is to provide a novel means for securing the rail to the above described tie.

With these and other objects in view our invention will be more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment of our invention and specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings which forni a part of' this application, Figure, 1 is a plan of one cf our improved ties. Fig. 2 isl a side'ele- .55 vation thereof. Fig. 3 is a section through the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 showing the reinforc- Specifcation of Letters Ztateiit.

Application led May 2, 1911.

Patented ct. 1Q, 1911. Serial No. 624,635.

ing means used. Fig- 4t is a detail sectional view on the line 4;-4 of Fig. 1, showing means for yieldably securing the two meinbers of our tie 'to each other. Fig. 5 is a plan View showing a number of our ties connected together to form a continuous rail bed. Fig. 6 is a. detail perspective of the hookused in securing the tiestogether. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of one of the tie members with the rail secured thereto, the rail being shown in section. Fig. 8 is a detail perspective of the outer chair member used in securing the rail to the tie. Fig. 9 is a detail perspective of the inner chair member, and Fig. 10 is a plan `View of one of. the spacer blocks for use between the` rails. l

Referring more specically to the drawings, in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout, our improved tie 'will be seen to consist primarily of the two tie members 1 and 2 and as the construction of these members is identical a description of one will suffice for both. Each of these tie members is coiistructed in the form of a Latin cross the longer arm of which extends inwardly between the rails which are adapted to rest upon and extend along the cross arms. A recess 3, the purpose of which will be here- -inafter explained, is formed in the end of the longer arm of each cross, while a transverse, centrally located. bolt receiving bore #t is also provided in said arms, intermediate between. the recess 3 and the cross arms.

The reinforcing means for the tie members as best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, consists of the metal rods 5 and (i embedded in the concrete structure midway'between the upper and lower faces of the tie. The member 5 is shown as substantially U- shaped with the loop portion of the U eX- tending outwardly a slight distance from the end of the arm 5 ofthe member 1 to form an eye 7, While the ends are bent outwardl at riU'ht angles as at 8 thus anchorb D l ing the member 5 firmly in place. The other reinforcing member (5 consists of the substantially U-shaped member .9 having its loop portion extending out into the recess 3 to form an eye l0, while its side members are q irovided with the oppositely extending U-shaped portions 1l and l2 extending outwardly in th. arms 'I3 and lft respectively of the cross, the closed ends of said menibers forming the eyes y15 and t6, while the free end of each of said members is bent outwardly at right angles as at- 17 and 18 tol iirmly anchor the reinforcing rod in place. As described both4 the bore 4 and the reinforcing member 6 are -centrally located and to prevent the member G from passing through the bore 4 we bend one side of the U-shaped portion 9 upwardly and the other side downwardly at that point, thus causing thereinforcing member 6 to pass part above andY art below the bolt when the latter is inplce, thereby preventing said bolt from breaking out or' the tie. The means of securing the two members of the tie together, as best. shown in Fig.- 4, consists of a casing 19, preferably formed of metal and adapted to be seated between the two members of the tie inthe recesses 3 previously described. Seatedwithin this casing are the two rods 2O and 21 carrying at their opposite ends 'collars 22 and 23 respectively while their other ends extend Veach through the collar carried by the other rod` and terminate in the hooks 24 and 25- adapted to engage with the eyes 10 of the tie member, which eyes extend through suitable slots or apertures formed in the ends of the casing.' Surrounding these rods and acting between the collars 22 and 23 is the heavy compression spring 2G, the normal tendency oit' which is to bind the tie members closely together. This spring is so proportioned in size and strength however as to permit of a slight compression under the strain exerted upon the rail by the train in passing over the same, thus allowing a slight independent motion of the rails away from each other.

The upper face of each tie member is provided with a shallow recess 27 adapted to receive the base. ot' the outer chair member when securing the rail in place. The bottom of each of these recesses 27 is provided with a plurality of downwardly extending recesses orl sockets 28 adapted to receive downwardly extending lugs formed upon the lower face of the chairsA thereby securing the same in place. As these ties are to be reversible the lower face of each of these members is siIlarlyreCeSSed, thus allowing the tie to'be turned upside down in ease its upper face becomes marred or broken by a 4derailed train or other cause.

' engaging with the sockets 28 formed therein.

lVhen in this position the base of the chair is flush with the top of the tie, thus forming an'even seat for the rail,`which in Fig. 7 is designated by the numeral 32. The

outer end of the plate of which this chair is formed is bent upwardly and inwardly over' the flange of the rail and then extended up in a line with and bearing against the `web of the rail with its upper end resting under and supporting the ball of the rail. The inner portion of this chair member extends inwardly to a considerable distance beyond the inner fiange of the rail as shown at 33 andY is provided with a plurality of apertures 34 adapted to register each with one of the sockets 28 formed inthe tie. With the rail thus in place, the second or inner chair member is applied. This member consists primarily of the plate 35 provided with a plurality of downwardly extendingV lugs 3G adapted to pass through the aperture 34 of the chair member 29 and engage with the sockets 25 of the tie, said lugsibeing longer than the lugs 31 by the thickness of the chair 29, whereby they engage the tie to the sameextent as do the lugs 31. l

That portion of the plate 35 adjacent the rail curves upwardly over the inner flange of the rail and then upwardly against the web as at 37, its upper end bearing a 'ainst the lower portion of the ball of the rai In order to'secure the combined chair and rail to the tie we provide the upper chair incinber 30, upon either side, with the perforated .extensions or ears 3S through which extend the threaded ends 39 of bolts 40, which ends are provided with nuts41. `The other ends of these bolts 40 terminate each in an eye 42 through which is passed a bolt 43 which extends completely through the tie through the boltreceiving bore 4, said latter bolt beingseeured in place'by means of a nut 44. It will be seen that by tightening the nuts 41 the chair and rail will be firmly clamped to the tie.

In laying the track with our improved tie we prefer to follow out the system shown in Fig. 5, namely that or' Securing each tie to the next on/e in the track by means of the hook member 45, which as shownin Fig. G consists of a bar or rod ol' metal provided at either end with a downwardly extending hook member 46 adapted to engage with the eyes 15 and 1G of the tie. By this means the ties are iirnily secured to each other and all shifting of the track is avoided. Fig. 5 also showsl the ties of one track secured to the ties of the other in case of a double track road.

Because of the enlarged bearing area between the tie and rail it is not necessaryy to use as many ties to the rail as is ustomary and upon straight .stretches oi track or upon tracks where the tratlic is light the ties may be spaced at a considerable distance from each other. In order to permit this and at the same time to maintain the ties in their connected relation we have provided Spacer blocks @t7 as best shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings. These spacer blocks may be of any length desired and are formed of con-A crete, reinforced in much the same manner as are the ties, with loops of the reinforcing members extending outwardly from either end to form the eyes 48 and 49. As will be readily understood these spacer blocks are to be placed between the ties and beneath the rail and secured to the ties byy means of the hooks 45.

As described we have shown `no means whatever for securing the rail and chair to each other. and with our improved form of chair no such means is necessary. If desired however those portions of the chair members which bear against the web of the rail, t0- gether with the rail, may be provided with suitable bolt receiving apertures and a bolt 50 may be passed therethrough and secured in place by the nut 5l. Another point not previously brought out is that the easing 19, which rests between the tie members and which incloses the spring 26 may be provided with a suitable cover or closure 52 to prevent any ballast from entering the casing and thus interfering with the action of the spring. lt will be understood however that such minor changes in the details of the construction, may be made as desired, without in any way departing from the spirit of our invention.

As will be seen from the above we have provided a tie composed of two members, either, or both of which are reversible, that we have provided means for yieldably securing the members of the tie to each other, thus allowing tor independent motion of the rails, and that we have also provided means for securing the ties as a whole to cach other. lt will also be seen that we have provided an improved chair by means ot' which the rail may be secured to the tic without the necessityv of bolting the rail and chair together.

`What we claim is:--

1. A tie comprising reversible members having their abutting eudsrecessed,eusl1ion- .ing means seated in said recesses, means for securing the members together, and rail sccuring means Jfor said tie.

42. A reinforced concrete tie comprising two cross shaped reversible members, the reinforcement being extended to form centrally located eyes upon the ends of each arm, means for securing a plurality of said members together' to form a continuous series of complete tie units, and means for securing rails to said ties. i

3. A. tie comprising two members having their inner ends bifurc'ated and provided with eyes, means for securing a rail to each member, means for yieldably securing said members together, said means consisting ot' two disks, two rods each slidable through one of said disks and secured by one end to the other, hooks carried by the free ends of said rods and engaging said eyes, and a helical spring surrounding said rods and bearing against the inner faces of said disks.

4. A yieldable tie provided with transverse bores intermediate its length and with recesses in its upper face, said recesses being provided with a plurality of sockets, and means for securing a rail to said tie, said means comprising an outer rail engaging chair member adapted'to be seated in one of said recesses and provided wth a plurality ot' downwardly extending lugs and a plurality of apertures, said lugs engaging witha part ot' said sockets and said recesses registering with the remainder thereof, an inner rail engaging chair adapted to be seated upon said outer chair and provided with a plurality of downwardly extending lugs adapted to pass through the recesses of said first mentioned chair and to engage with the sockets with which they register, said latter chair being provided with cxtcnding sides cach having a bolt receiving aperture, a bolt passed through one of said transverse bores-and carrying au eye bolt at each end, said eye bolts being passed upwardly through the apertures of said inner chair and nuts for said bolts.

In testimony whereof, we aliix our signatures, in presence ot two witnesses.

LEVI N. BUICLL. JAM IGS ll. i/Vl IE ICLER.

Witnesses:

Jamas M'. 'l`m.un1.n, l). M. Pnnmlrs. 

